Buccaneer Energy spuds Cosmopolitan #1 well offshore Alaska

5/14/2013

Buccaneer Energy spuds Cosmopolitan #1 well offshore Alaska

SYDNEY -- Australian operator Buccaneer Energy has received notice from the Alaskan Oil and Gas Conservation Commission that the group has inspected and certified the Endeavour jack-up rig for operations within Alaskan state waters. This was the final certification required for the jack-up to be able to commence drilling operations.

The Cosmopolitan #1 well spud at approximately midday EST on May 13 (Sydney), and is currently at 600 ft drilling ahead.

The Cosmopolitan Project is located in 80 ft of water approximately 30 mi northwest of Homer, Alaska. Cosmo is owned jointly with privately-owned Fort Worth, Texas-based BlueCrest Energy. Buccaneer has a 25% working interest in the project and serves as the operator, with BlueCrest owning a 75% working interest.

The Cosmo #1 well is a vertical well that has a targeted TD of 8,000 ft. The well is anticipated to take approximately 45 days to drill and test.

Surface casing will be set at 800 ft, after which the well will be drilled to the top of the Tyonek Formation at 2,000 ft, where casing will again be set. The first Tyonek gas zone should be intersected at approximately 2,150 ft, with multiple gas zones anticipated intersected to 6,000 ft.

Casing will be set at approximately 6,000 ft before drilling through the proven oil-bearing Starichkof and Hemlock Formations, and will reached the target depth of 8,000 ft after drilling the prospective West Foreland Formation. The current plan is to take oil cores to augment the reservoir data to further optimize the future oil plan of development. At this stage it is not planned to flow test the oil formations.

On completion of drilling and logging operations, the well will be plugged back to the bottom of the Tyonek gas formation. Gas zones within the Tyonek that are identified as potentially commercial through drilling and logging will then be perforated and flow tested. If successfully tested, the well will be temporary abandoned as a future gas producer.